A Cherished Kick
by Sunflowers In Moscow
Summary: Sakura knew Sasuke deserved to know he would soon be a father, but something held her back. Every week, another letter went out, devoid of any mention of a child, and every week her baby grew a little bigger. Now he was home again, and here she was, at the beginning of her third trimester, desperately cursing her past self for being such a damned coward.


_**I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does. **_

* * *

Haruno Sakura chewed slowly on the red flesh of the tomato in her hand. It was rather tangy, the light sprinkle of salt doing its job, and she gazed out into the garden absentmindedly, her eyes blank of the feelings that her heart was busy pounding in rhythm too.

It was a strange affliction she had - capable only of displaying emotions in the presence of others.

The things she thought and felt, only validated when she was not alone. Sometimes this made her confused; other times, frustrated. Were her innermost opinions discounted because they could not be shown?

Yet, these thoughts were thoughts far too deep for the current mood. They were too heavy, and she was already carrying around extra weight as it was.

She finally swallowed her bite of the tomato and gazed down fondly at her bloated stomach. Her quickening had long since past, and every time she moved, she felt gentle flutters on the inside followed by a barrage of kicks. She anticipated and cherished every single one, as they were symbolic of a number of things that Sakura held close to her heart.

She placed a hand on the firm, stretched skin and rubbed gently, slowly introducing a mild green light that flowed from her fingertips. The light caressed the growing skin before seeping through it, soothing the itching of an unsettled little life.

Chakra coils were not fully developed until around the age of eight, however in the very beginning it was irritable for them to _form_. This resulted in, for lack of a better term, a heightened sensitivity to foreign chakra - essentially, the chakra of the mother. As this was roughly nil within civilians, it was rarely noticed, yet in kunoichi it became very apparent. Kunoichi mothers equaled overactive babies.

Medical chakra had technically the same effect, however Tsunade-shishou (who was behind most of the modern medical breakthroughs, in all honesty) had discovered that it was possible to reinforce the natural protection of the uterine walls to partially resist chakra. This was only possible because chakra did not naturally pass through the placenta, therefore there were no real natural processes to interrupt. Of course, the effects were only temporary, but Sakura was grateful for any slight relief - she may adore her little baby's kicks, but they did grow painful after some time.

Gradually the kicks stopped, leaving behind only the fluttering, and she cut off her chakra with a sigh.

However, with the settling of her baby went her distraction, and soon her thoughts were back on the thing she was avoiding.

_Sasuke was due home. _

She was so very excited. He had been away for almost six months, and as her pregnancy had developed, the time seemed to pass even slower than it usually did when he was away. It was more than just longing - this time, she had noticed an honest to god _lack _in her life at his absence. It was as if he had cut out a hole when he left - a hole she saw everywhere.

Sakura knew she was an exceptional kunoichi, as well as a strong woman, and over the many years since Sasuke had left Konoha as a genin - the event which catalysed everything that followed - she had discovered that while she would always love him with her entire heart, she did not physically _need _him.

She flourished in their relationship. Her younger, more naive self would probably have despaired at the apparent lack of interaction and 'love', yet Sakura found that it suited the two of them perfectly. Sasuke had no need to be around her at every waking moment, and truth be told, neither did she. She had a hospital to run, students to teach, and missions to carry out. The notion of being a housewife had been thrown away at the same time as her long hair littered the ground within the Forest of Death.

She loved him with all of her being, but she wouldn't give up her life for him.

Her normal independent nature was the reason why she was so off put by the sheer need she currently felt for him.

The house was too big. She cooked too much food. The laundry basket was too empty. Her bed was too cold.

It was maddening.

She was overjoyed that he would be back now - she would stop noticing these things, and everything would hopefully go back to normal.

_Or it would go to shit._

Oh, yes. She was also terrified to the point of crying and demolishing her house in a fit of frustration.

Sakura was _pregnant_.

She had only been roughly a month gone when he had left, and she hadn't found out until two weeks later.

Of course, she ended up blurting it out to Tsunade-shishou, who had neglected to inform her that the room was not in fact empty and Naruto was bent under the table trying to find a pen.

That had led to her punching her insensitive best friend/honoured Hokage half way across the village when he had the gall to say that he would have to teach Sasuke how to put on a condom right.

And naturally, within about a week her entire generation knew that Haruno Sakura was carrying the next Uchiha heir.

Nearly the whole village knew, and yet...

Sasuke didn't.

She gave a shuddering sigh and moved inside, sliding ungracefully into one of the chairs around the dining table and holding her head in her hands.

It wasn't as if she hadn't _tried _to tell him. They wrote letters to one another once a week - an agreement she had weaseled out of him that hadn't taken as much weaseling as she had expected - therefore it should have been a simple thing to add in the letter. Sakura knew Sasuke deserved to know he would soon be a father, but... something held her back.

So every week, another letter went out, devoid of any mention of a child, and every week her baby grew a little bigger.

And here she was, at the beginning of her third trimester, desperately cursing her past self for being such a damned coward.

She didn't know why she was so scared. Reviving his clan had always been on the cards for him, ever since they had been clueless, prepubescent twelve year olds who had no idea how life actually worked. Logically she knew since the start of their committed relationship that his goal would most likely include her.

Yet... it had never seemed like a tangible possibility. It was floated ahead in the distant future, ghostly but still nothing Sakura, who lived in the present, would have to deal with.

Now she was living that future.

She and Sasuke had never spoken about children.

They spoke of course.

About goals, missions, friends and teammates.

He spoke about his family, the weight of his mother's kiss on his brow, the gentle tap on his forehead from his smiling older brother - Sakura fervently wished she had gotten to meet _this _Uchiha Itachi. The one who sacrificed his entire family and his life for his little brother and his village. She thought he would have made the best uncle for the little baby in her belly.

She spoke about her loving grandfather and her fierce grandmother, who had been murdered for their produce by bandits when she was eleven. She spoke about the little brother she had once had, only days into life with stunning blue eyes and vibrant pink hair like her own, who had been snatched away in the middle of the night by fever before she could even call for her parents.

They bonded, over the family they had once had and the family they had now.

Yet the family of the future had never entered into the conversation once.

It was this, she eventually deduced, that scared her.

Did he even _want _babies with her?

Sakura had grown so, so attached to the tiny life growing inside her, and she knew she would sell her soul for his or her happiness - she would be devastated if Sasuke didn't feel the same way.

Her baby had become the personification of her dreams for the future, of her love for its father, of her hope itself.

Should she be forced to choose...

Oh god, she needed more time.

Sakura shrieked as a long sticky tongue materialised out of the smoke which erupted in front of her face, and shot backward in her chair while her fist simultaneously surged forward.

The bright orange toad - she was going to _kill _Naruto, this time for sure - casually dodged her furious attack, and croaked in protest.

"Maa, maa, no need for violence Sakura-chan!"

Her eyebrow twitched as she took a deep breath.

"Gamamaru."

The toad grinned.

"S'up."

She sighed and shook her head to clear it, before pointing an accusing finger at him.

"What are you _doing_ here?"

Gamamaru grinned, then gave her a mock salute.

"Boss sent me with a message. '_The bastard's home, he just left my office. Don't worry, I didn't tell him about the baby. Though I did say you had something important to tell him, so not to be slow going home - you can thank me later Sakura-chan! Hina-chan wants to see you tomorrow by the way; I think it's about baby stuff. I have no fucking clue about any of it, so if you could help, that'd be awesome. See you later!'_"

"That idiot! I'm going to kill him!"

Enraged, she stood up and swung her fist at the nearest living being, and Gamamaru dispelled with a squeak of fear.

The second the messenger toad was gone, silence reigned within the house once more, and she collapsed unsteadily into the chair once more, covering her face with shaky hands.

There was no getting out of this now. Even if she were to disappear to the hospital in pretense of work, due to Naruto's blabbing Sasuke would only come looking for her. He wasn't patient enough to wait.

She could feel her entire body beginning to shake, and her baby was shifting around uncomfortably, reacting this time not to her chakra, but to her emotions.

She... this... oh dear _God_...

The front door clicked shut.

* * *

"Sakura?"

Her head shot up at the sound of his smooth, deep voice, and she suppressed a shudder as she scooted her chair forward as far as it would go, effectively hiding her bump under the table. The legs of the chair scraped loudly on the stone floor of the kitchen, and she winced at the sound.

No more hiding.

"I-in here, Sasuke-kun."

She heard him drop a bag in the foyer, along with the click that was probably the sound of his katana being placed against the wall. Then soft footsteps towards the kitchen.

Her breathing became ragged.

The shoji door slid open, and into the kitchen came Uchiha Sasuke.

The house took a breath, and everything was right again.

He hadn't changed at all.

His dark hair was still that, as were his eyes, and his face was the same. He maintained the strong jawline which had developed with the passing of his teenage years, and his cheekbones were high, a subtle reminder to his aristocratic heritage. His black shinobi uniform was in perfect condition.

She wondered if he noticed anything different about her. Anything that hinted as to the life changing little person who was sleeping in her tummy.

Besides her distended stomach, was she truly as unchanged as he?

The corner of his mouth flicked upwards for a second as she placed her hands flat out on the table, and he moved to sit at the chair opposite her.

He was as graceful as ever, yet she was practiced reading him - he was tired.

How would this revelation affect that?

Sasuke looked comfortably into her eyes, which were no doubt betraying her nervousness, and cocked an eyebrow.

"The dobe was rather anxious for me to get home. Apparently you have something to tell me? Although I'm not sure it is as urgent as the idiot was making it out to be."

When he rolled his eyes, Sakura accidentally let out a high pitched giggle, before her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and she abruptly felt all of his attention focus intently on her.

"... Sakura?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat, but then she could no longer hold his gaze and looked down at the wooden tabletop.

"Is something wrong?"

She could hear the steely tone in his voice, and knew it was anger that something may have upset her.

How times had changed since her youth.

She swallowed once more before shaking her head, and hoarsely beginning to speak.

"No... not unless you think there is."

Her right hand began to shake on the table, and his artificial left hand covered it completely in a small show of affection that spoke volumes.

"Whatever it is... you can tell me."

She looked up at him, and while his eyes were nearly as blank as always, they conveyed to her exactly what she needed. It gave her the courage she needed.

"Sasuke-kun... first, you must know that I never meant to keep this from you."

His eyes hardened and he slowly pulled away his hand. Of course, it was only after the sentence came out that she realised how that sounded.

"No! No, that's not what I meant... urgh..."

She dropped her head down and sighed.

"Why is this so hard?" She muttered quietly.

"Sakura."

She looked back up, and saw that he had tensed his entire body.

His hands were clenched in fists, and she tried to reach over to hold one, but found she could not reach because of the baby bump. She frowned and grunted in frustration, before leaning back in her chair.

His brow furrowed in confusion, and the hard ice left his eyes.

"Sakura, what-?"

She decided to swallow the pill, and forced her chair backwards before pushing herself to her feet.

Immediately, his eyes zeroed in on her pregnancy bump, and she steeled herself to what was to come.

Instead of loud shouting, or even violent actions aimed at her poor kitchen, she had the pleasure of seeing Sasuke's mouth open in shock.

"S-Sakura."

"Yes... Sasuke-kun?"

Before she knew it, he was standing tall pressed up against her side, and his large, callused hand was tentatively cradling the large swelling that held his child.

She gasped and her knees weakened, but his left arm wrapped tightly around her waist, supporting her against him.

Sakura looked up at him, and felt all of her fear melt away as he looked down in genuine _awe_ at first the bump, and then at her.

It was as if she had personally turned on a light for him, as she was certain that while he loved her, he had never looked at her with quite so much amazement.

She snorted, and looked back at him wryly. "Oh, by the way Sasuke-kun... I'm pregnant."

She barely had time to finish the sentence before his lips were on hers, and the ferocity astounded her as she gave her best effort to return the favour.

Her arms moved up to wrap around his neck, and she was certain that the flood of emotion pooling in her chest was going to drown her. He kissed and kissed her, and with one of his hands around her and the other holding their baby...

She welcomed him home.

* * *

The kiss broke when the baby kicked, and they both looked down at her bump again, one with fondness and one with astonishment.

Sakura knew... that was a cherished kick indeed.

"They knows their otou-san is home."

"She."

"... Do you think so, Sasuke-kun?"

He swallowed.

"I suppose we'll have to get married."

She paused to make sure she heard correctly.

"Not exactly the proposal I was hoping for."

"... You'll need a ring."

She laughed softly.

"Oh romance, thy name is Uchiha Sasuke."

* * *

**My contribution to SasuSaku with a tiny cameo of Sarada, in a way :)**

**Again, did I mention my love for the new Uchiha family? Probably. I know I explored the less nice side of their relationship in my other one-shot, but I wanted to make clear that while they argue, they really do suit one another. People argue, after all. It's human nature. I do want to make clear however, that I support this pairing with Sasuke _now. _I really think he must have changed a lot to have a healthy relationship with Sakura, and I wanted to make that clear here. He's still him, but... a better man.**

**Also, not married yet because I see SasuSaku as a pairing that rarely does what is expected of them.**

**I hope you all enjoy this. I will almost certainly write more :)**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**P.S. Gamamaru is an OC. I'm pretty sure Gamakichi is a bit too big to be a messenger now, haha.**


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